Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 287: To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of procurement of sites, buildings or facilities associated with the Government's decentralisation programme; the receipts accruing to the Exchequer from the disposal of buildings or facilities in the context of the programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19676/06]

Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)
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To date property acquisitions relating to the Government's decentralisation programme have been completed or significantly advanced in 25 locations. The particular solutions in these locations include State owned sites, sites purchased from local authorities, private individuals and purchases and leases of existing buildings. The estimated total committed expenditure in these 25 locations is €42.7 million excluding VAT. Suitable solutions have been identified in another 14 locations and negotiations to acquire these are ongoing. The overall site acquisition cost of the entire decentralisation programme is expected to be in the region of €75 million to €100 million, excluding VAT. The prices paid to the date for sites are considered by the OPW to be in line with market prices.

It is estimated that approximately 210,00 sq. m of office space will be required to accommodate the total numbers included in the programme. OPW cost norms (April 2005) in respect of offices would indicate an average build-cost to fit-out standard, in the range of €1,800 to €2,200 per square metre for suburban / rural locations and €2,500 to €3,000 per square metre in city/town centre locations. Such figures exclude VAT, professional fees and inflation. In addition the cost of equipping the accommodation to standard office equipment levels could be estimated at approximately €4,000 per person. This would exclude the cost of Information and Communication Technology and specialised equipment requirements. Such general measurements of cost do not include specialised facility and equipment requirements and other variables which would arise from the spread of possible procurement methodologies. In addition general cost indicators of this type show a snapshot in time.

It is self-evident that a firmer scale of costs for the decentralisation programme will only emerge on foot of actual cost proposals being received from the market. It will be some months yet before sufficient data can be extracted from a suitable range of tender competitions to provide a basis on which more robust estimates of the overall cost of the programme can be made. Nevertheless, it can be estimated that, generally speaking, the cost of providing accommodation in provincial, compared to central Dublin locations should yield considerable cost savings to the State over time in terms of site costs, capital build costs and indeed maintenance costs. The receipts accruing to the Exchequer from the disposal of surplus buildings in Dublin in the context of the Government's Asset Transformation programme to date exceed €345 million.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 288: To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which it is intended to proceed with the Government's decentralisation programme with particular reference to a comparison between what is now proposed and that originally announced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19677/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to state the Government's full commitment to the decentralisation programme. The Decentralisation Implementation Group, chaired by Mr. Finbarr Flood, was established to drive the process forward and to oversee its effective delivery. The Group, recognising that it would not be feasible for all organisations to move at the same time, proposed phasing arrangements and revised timeframes out to 2009 for civil service organisations. These arrangements were accepted by Government and announced in June of last year and I am satisfied that good progress continues to be made. I understand that the Decentralisation Implementation Group has met a number of Secretaries General and are satisfied with the level of planning in each of the Departments. The Group is meeting the Chief Executives of a number of State Agencies to discuss the planning framework in place, to assess progress to date and to hear about the challenges arising and steps proposed to address them. The figures confirm that this is a popular programme among staff. Over 10,600 civil and public servants have applied to the Central Applications Facility. To date some 1,500 people have been assigned to posts destined for new locations and are being trained in their new role in readiness to move. So far, some 200 of these have actually relocated and it is expected that up to 1,000 will have moved by the end of the year. There is an extensive range of preparations ongoing in relation to the acquisition of property by the OPW, as well as the detailed implementation planning within individual Departments, Offices and Agencies, and ongoing discussions with unions in relation to the various human resource aspects of the programme. As always when dealing with a programme of this size there are challenges to overcome but I am confident that these can be addressed with the active co-operation of all parties involved in the implementation effort.